Wood Projects April 12, 2024Business is slow, my website numbers are great, and my social media is getting constant compliments, but business is slow. There are a lot of reasons for this and I have my thoughts, but let’s leave those out there for speculation. So, what to do about it. Do I panic, well let’s be honest, deep inside I do a little bit. Do I change what I am doing and lower my prices? Is my work worth less today than it was yesterday? No, it is not. I have a friend at church who is an interior designer that I have done work for in the past. I saw her Sunday and she asked how business was. Honestly, we all would want to say at this point that “all is fabulous”. But that’s not true in my case so I replied that business is slow. Yes, I do have projects on the bench but nothing in the pipeline once these are complete. Because misery loves company, I was kind of happy to hear her say that she was slow as well. Yes, I know, I know, not the right thought. But she and I have always been able to have these conversations honestly. It’s nice to have someone like this. Let’s go back to before I left corporate America and start to answer this question. I have been building for about 30 years and enjoying what I do. Most of the builds were for family. Then about 15 years ago I started to build for customers. Some of those customers were people I worked with so everyone saw my work. I would get asked on a regular basis, “why are you still here and not building full time”? My response then was “When God is ready for me to go full time, He will tell me”. Yes I know, Cliché’ , but the real reason. So, what was my answer to her or to anyone else during this slow time or any other time where I have a project on the bench but nothing in the pipeline? Here I go with another story, LOL Over these past years since I became a full time Maker, people would ask if I had enough work. I would always reply “God will not allow me to be any busier than I can handle at any given time” . You see, I work alone and, well, I am not as young as I used to be. We laugh all the time that God knows exactly where I am on a project and new prospects come in just as I begin to finish a present project. Funny story about this year. Things were slow in January and February, so we decided to take on a personal project of building a garden shed. This would allow us to grow our fruits and vegetables and keep the deer and squirrels at bay. So off I went to clear a 12 x 12 plot of land, put down stone